Deck chair



March 27, 1934. H. G. SHEARER 1,952,610

DECK CHAIR Filed Jan. 5, 1932 f fd f e -xse e Patented Mar. 27, 1934 PATENT OFFICE DECK CHAIR Herbert Gladstone Shearer, Mile End, South Australia, Australia Application January 5, 1932, Serial No. 584,790 In Australia January 12, 1931 4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements deck chairs, the expression deck chairs being intended to embrace that type of chair which consists of four main members pivotally attached to- 5 gether in pairs, and furnished with subsidiary parts which support a canvas seat, or a seat of string, netting, or other exible material.

rI'he main object of my invention is to construct and arrange the constituent parts in such a manw ner that they can be readily assembled for use, or

may be'taken asunder for carrying and transport purposes.

In connection with my invention I use the main supporting parts substantially as at present in use, but the subsidiary members are altered in construction so as to render the chair more convenient for handling and transport purposes, and for adjustment as to the relative height of the seat and the spread of the intersecting legs.

I achieve the object of my invention principally by using dowel ends in connection with the transverse members which are adapted to t into slots and are retained by wing nuts, and additionally my locking and adjustment metal bars are hinged to the back of the seat legs and are adapted to en" gage the bottom or forward transverse member of the back rest portion, such metal strips having one or more hooks of suitable size and shape to engage the transverse member.

But in order that my invention may be more clearly understood, I will now describe the same by aid of the accompanying illustrative drawing wherein:-

Fig. l is a side elevation of a deck chair but having the left hand side members omitted to enable the various remaining parts to be more clearly seen.

Fig. 2 is a front illustration of Fig. 1 having all members assembled in position.

Fig. 3 is a sectional illustration of the end of either the top or the two bottom transverse members, all of which are similarly constructed.

Fig. 3a is a repetition of the construction shown in Fig. 3 with dowel accommodated in bolt hole v instead of slot.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 indicate side views of the top intermediate and lower leg slots for the movable transverse members.

Fig. '7 is a protecting plate adapted to be fastened on the outer side of the separable members.

Fig. 8 sectional illustration of a deck chair showing an adjustable locking element.

Fig. 9 is a plan of chair with canvas seat removed showing a connected adjustable locking device.

Fig. 10 is an illustration of the locking device shown in Figs. 8 and 9 with centrally located hooks. Y

In each of the illustrations similar letters of reference are used to denote similar or correspending parts wherever they occur.

In the drawing a and a respectively indicate the right and left hand main supports which may be regarded as back supports, the seat support or supporting legsy being illustrated at b and b. These members are fastened together by the hinge bolt or rivet c and a nut and washer device may be added.

In the position indicated by the reference letters d, d', d2 and d3, I cut parallel or transverse 70 slots in the cross members, the parallel slots being indicated at d and d2 at the upper ends of their respective structure, and the transverse or slightly angled slots d' and d3 at the lower outer ends of the structures.

The upper and two lower transverse members e, e' and e2 are preferably of round section, and are furnished at each end with a strong dowel f which is screw threaded at its outer end and may be driven, screwed, o1' otherwise secured in each transverse member.

These dowels project from the transverse member as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing, and are screw threaded for the accommodation of a wing nut g, the extending portion of the dowel being of sufficient size and length to enable it to t into the slots of the intersecting members, and to allow for the wing nut so that when adjusted it may act as a clamp, the contacting woodwork being' protected by a metal washer plate h which may be held in position by small nails or screws which pass through holes provided for that purpose. Said plate h, serves the additional function of reinforcing the woodwork at such points and acts as a bearing, together with said woodwork, for the transverse members.

In addition to these parts I provide an adjustable locking element i which is preferably made of two strips of metal, the rear ends of which are maintained in a vertical direction and 100 are hinged to the back legs of the seat rest by means of pins or bolts 7c, the front portion being twisted at right angles as shown at 7", and bent in the form of a hook i2 of suiicient size and shape to enable each piece to engage the transverse 105 member e', and is supplemented by one or more additional hooks 7'3 which are securely attached thereto, and are similarly designed for engagement with the member e.

The transverse member, which supports the llO bil flexible seat, and is indicated by the reference letter e3, may be similar in construction to the transverse members e, e' and e2, if so desired, but I prefer that it should be of fiat section as illustrated in Fig. 1 instead of round section as shown in other parts of the drawing so as to render it more comfortable for the user. This portion of the structure, together with the transverse mem.- ber e, affords support to the canvas or other fabric seat Z.

The assembling of the various parts will be readily understood from the illustrated drawing.

The four principal frame members are suitably spaced apart and the dowels oi the transverse members e, e and e2, as well as of the transverse member e3, are readily slipped into their respective slots, and the wing nuts and cl'owels are then screwed down on to the washer plate of each outer member, thus securely holding the variousl parts together, the tendency to become dislodged being obviated, not only by the frictional grip afforded by the wing nut, but also by the position of the various slots in relation to the transverse mem*- bers, the dovvels of which are supported therein.

In Figs. 8, 9, and 10 I have illustrated my looking device applicable to an ordinary deck chair in which the principal supporting members are hinged together with the hinge pin c as arranged in the previous illustrations.

The portions y', 7'" and 7'2 are substantially as shown in the preceding illustrations, and operate in the same manner to enable the hook end i2 to engage the front bottom transverse bar e', there being a series of hooks :i3 similar to those shown in the previous figures, but these locking and adjusting members instead of being in two parts independent oi each other are framed together either by the aid of a hand bar je which is preferably made of metal and is bent in the manner indicated so that a person who is using the chair may easily increase or decrease the height of the seat by gripping the bar e and the hand bar ,i4 between the fingers and the thumb, and by simple manipulation, can engage or release the hooks with or from the front cross bar, or the device may be in the form of a yoke as in Fig. 10 in which event the transverse bar e should preferably be made a little stronger than is usually the practice.

In heavier types of folding or collapsible chairs the slots d, d and d2 in which the dowels are accommodated may be dispensed with, and in lieu thereof I drill a dowel hole through the wooden frames in a position corresponding in location with the bottom of the slot, so that the dowel pins may be threaded through these holes instead of being slidably inserted therein.

1. A locking bar for structures of the folding chair type having pivoted leg frameworks comn prising a forked member having diverging arms adapted to engage the side bars of one of said frameworks, means for securing said arms to said framework, and a shank extending from said arms having means for engaging a transverse bar of the other of said frameworks.

2'. A locking bar for structures of the folding chair type having rectangular frameworks pivoted at a medial point comprising a forked member having diverging arms adapted to engage the side bars of one of the pivoted frameworks, means for securing said arms to said framework, and a shank extending from said arms having means for engaging a transverse bar of the other of said frameworks.

3. A locking bar for structures of the folding chair type having rectangular frameworks pivoted at a medial point comprising a forked member having diverging arms adapted to engage the side bars of one or the pivoted frameworks, means for securing said arms to said framework, a shank extending from said arms, said shank having a plurality of spaced hooks, any one of which is adapted to engage a transverse bar of the other of the pivoted rameworks to determine the relative anguiarity thereof.

4. A locking bar for structures of the folding chair type having rectangular frameworks pivoted at a medial point comprising a forked member having diverging arms adapted to detachably embrace the side bars of one of the pivoted frameworks, means for securing said arms to said framework, a shank extending from said arms, said shank having a plurality of spaced hooks, any one of which is adapted to engage a transverse bar of the other of the pivoted frameworks below the pivotal point thereof to determine their relative angularity.

HERBERT GLADSTONE SHEARER. 

